MJØLNIR Powered Assault Armor
The MJØLNIR (IPA: ˈmjɔlˌnɪɹ 'me-all-'nhr) Powered Assault Armor is humanity's first combat exoskeleton system. Made by Svenska Mineraler och andra Skit AB, the MJØLNIR is designed to vastly improve the strength, speed, agility, reflexes and durability of an Alliance soldier in the field of combat. Background Prioritized and advanced parallel to the Alliance's Early Days, the MJØLNIR powered assault armor was, in it's time, most advanced piece of tactical military hardware in alliance hands. Each suit alone used to cost as much as a small starship. The brainchild of Dr. Catherine J. Larraman, MJØLNIR was Larraman's attempt to create a powered exoskeleton capable of taking full advantage of the physical capabilities of an augmented soldier. The battlesuit was constructed in overlapping layers. It is a sealed system, capable of extravehicular and submersible activity or operations in toxic atmosphere. It is hardened against EMP and radiation, and has filters that are completely effective at removing toxins and bacteria from local atmosphere. The armor's outer shell is composed of a multilayer Titanium-Kevlar alloy of remarkable strength and has been augmented with a refractive coating. The suit contains a gel-filled layer underneath a thick black armored bodysuit. The gel layer regulates temperature and can re-actively change its density. The inner skinsuit is made of a moisture-absorbing synthetic material linked to an environment control computer and the occupant's neural interface. Powered armor works by having neural lace to translate electrochemical signals to digital code and routes them through an interface connection at the rear of the skull. Through this interface, the user's thoughts command the armor's movement and weapons; and input from the onboard sensors comes directly to the user's mind. Between the external armor and the internal padding is a layer of reactive metal liquid crystal. At the same time it is amorphous, yet amplifies force, doubling lifting capability and increasing reaction time by a factor of five. The suit also possesses other features that enhance its wearer's abilities. It has countless clips, belts, and magnetic holsters for the attachment of additional weapons and ammunition; the on-board computer is linked to the Eye-Know retinal prosthesis' Heads-Up-Display (HUD) and to sensors in the gloves and gaunlets detects the type of weapon and devices held, and to project helpful data related to the armor. In its final phase the MJØLNIR battlesuit weighs 5 kilograms (10 lbs) when in use, and is a fully neural-linked system. With an onboard AGI using the human mind for parallel processing, the MJØLNIR was designed to be the most devastating combat tool ever created. The armor line is named for the mythical weapon Mjølnir, the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of lightning, thunder, wind, and rain who possessed incredible power. It is said that Mjølnir had the power to level mountains, and that only Thor was strong enough to wield it. The origin of the word "Mjølnir" is unknown. The Icelandic verbs mölva (to crush) and mala (to grind) have been suggested as possible translations. Another theory suggests that "Mjølnir" might be related to the Russian word молния (molniya) and the Welsh word mellt (both words being translated to the term as "lightning"). This second theory parallels with the idea that Thor, being a son of Odin, and the God of Thunder himself, used lightning as his weapon. Incarnations pMk1 In developemt February 18, 2066 to March 12, 2067. pMk2 In developemt March 13, 2067 to January 30, 2068. pMk3 In developemt January 31 2068 to June 11, 2071. pMk4 In developemt June 12, 2071 to March 28, 2073. pMk5/Mk1 the Mark I MJØLNIR powered exoskeleton would be the first successful MJØLNIR armor that saw deployment onto the battlefield. Developed by Dr. Catherine J. Larraman, the MJØLNIR Mark I was a radical redesign of powered exoskeletons making use of technological innovations that were either Impractical or did not exist when work on the first MJØLNIR exoskeleton suit began. The Mark I MJØLNIR armor was in developemt March 29, 2073 to November 27, 2076. Mk2 The MJØLNIR Mark II is the first major upgrade of the system and introduced various revolutionary technologies for battlefield purposes: For instance, The ability to link a soldier and an AGI together to provide the soldier instant intel in the field, Nanobots for automatic repair of both the suit and the user, Personal Flight capability, Active AGI transfer protocols, Limited shaping of the kinetic barrier (partial overlaps, airfoils etc.), along with other functions. In addition to major changes from the Mark I, hundreds of other technical improvements are incorporated into the Mark II: for example, the reactor packs used to power the suits are again half the size of their predecessors. The Mark II was in Development November 28, 2076 to October 20, 2078. The MJØLNIR Mark II Was the last Version of the MJØLNIR armor and the only one mass-produced, and was removed from active service in May 12, 2109.